1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pool table or the like on which pool, snooker or similar games can be played, and in particular to a table which can also serve as a dining table.
2. Description of the Related Art
Snooker tables are of course well known. Further, snooker tables which can also serve as dining tables (hereinafter referred to as “snooker/dining tables”) are known. When it is desired to convert the table from its snooker form into its dining form, one or more covers are laid across the table, extending from one side to the other and supported on the cushions or the cushion surrounds. These covers form the surface of the dining table. It is also normally necessary to lower the height of the table, as the optimum height for the playing surface of a snooker table is several centimetres greater than the optimum height for a dining table, and mechanisms for adjusting the height in this manner are well known.
The use of such a table as a dining table imposes strict requirements on the allowable size of the top of the table. In particular, when the table is to be used as a dining table, the lower surface of the table top should be at least around 21.5 inches (around 55 cm) above the ground, to allow diners to fit their legs under the table top when seated. However, the upper surface should not be more than around 29 inches (around 74 cm) above the ground, as it is awkward to eat at a height greater than this. Thus, the total thickness of the table top, including the covers, should not exceed 7.5 inches (19 cm).
This does not normally pose a great problem in the context of snooker/dining tables. The thickness of a snooker/dining table top is made up of the thickness of the bed (normally made from slate or some similar flat and stiff material), the height of the cushions (which extend upwardly from the bed), and the thickness of the covers forming the dining surface. In addition, if there is a bed support, its thickness must also be taken into account. The total thickness is normally only a few inches.
In part, this stems from the nature of the game of snooker itself In snooker, it is often necessary for a ball to be placed on the table after it is potted. The contents of the pockets of a snooker table must therefore be easily accessible during a game, to facilitate this replacement. The pockets are commonly formed as shallow net bags, hanging from the bed and the cushions. It is easy for a person using the table as a snooker table to reach a hand into the pocket to retrieve a ball. Pockets of this type do not take up much space, and in any event will not inconvenience a diner.
However, in the game of pool, the situation is rather different. Once a ball is potted in pool, it is never replaced on the table. Pool tables, and in particular coin-operated pool tables of the sort found in pubs, bars and so on, normally include means for collecting and retaining the balls after they are potted. In coin-operated tables, these means can be operated to release the balls following insertion of the necessary coinage, in preparation for the next game.
One common way of achieving this is to provide channels leading from each of the pockets to a central collection point, and a further channel leading from the collection point to a region where the balls can be removed. This further channel can be blocked by a bar or the like, which is retracted or lifted when the necessary coins are inserted. Alternative arrangements are of course possible, and are known in the art. The channels are commonly formed from pairs of rails, along which the balls run.
A further complication arises from the chance that the cue ball will be accidentally potted by a player during a game of pool. Clearly, if this occurs, it is necessary to return the cue ball, to enable the following player to take his or her shot, and so it is necessary to separate the cue ball from the other balls (the “object balls”) and prevent it from being collected with them.
A common solution to this problem is to make the cue ball with a slightly smaller diameter than the object balls. The further channel can then be provided with a cut-away region having a size such that the cue ball can fall through it, but the object balls cannot. If the channel is formed from a pair of rails, then these can have a region where the distance between them is greater than the diameter of the cue ball but smaller than the diameter of the object balls. After falling through this region, the cue ball can be led (for example by means of another channel) to a region where it can be removed from the table by the players and used in the next shot.
Alternative means for separating the cue ball from the object balls are also known in the art.
It will be appreciated that these means for separating the cue ball from the object balls, and for returning the balls to specified regions, can take up a considerable amount of space. Indeed, in coin-operated tables, the mechanism can have a total thickness (measured downwardly from the top of the cushions) of around 15 inches (38 cm). Obviously, it is impossible to use mechanisms of this nature and size in a pool/dining table.